President’s Cup into quarterfinals

The winner advances to the knockout cup’s semi-finals scheduled for Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11, 2010).The other games are Pago Youth B vs. Lion Heart, Green Bay against PanSa and Kiwi Soccers vs. Vailoatai Youth. Opponents were determined by drawing of lots held on Oct. 16.The men’s National League games are on hold for this Saturday while the women’s competition continues as scheduled.FC SKBC vs. BLACK ROSESThis is a battle between two champions. Black Roses won the 2010 Futsal League and are also 11-a-side defending champs while FC SKBC, on the other hand, won the 2010 7-a-side competition.Black Roses advanced to the cup quarterfinals by beating Lauli’i 6-1 and FC SKBC won by the same score against Ilaoa & To’omata on Oct. 11, 2010.The South Korean Baptist Church squad boasts one of the best scorers in Gun Chul Kang while Black Roses has Dion Ott, one of the best in setting up teammates for scores.Black Roses also boasts talented players from front to back while SKBC now has a good mixture of Samoans playing for them to provide a much more balanced team than in the past.In other words this is the game to watch come Saturday and kickoff time is 12:30 p.m.PAGO YOUTH B vs. LION HEARTLion Heart picked Pago Youth A as their first opponent and then edged them in a shootout on Oct. 11. In another random picking of opponents, they pulled out of the hat none-other than Pago Youth B.Admittedly they should not have as hard a time against Pago B as they did versus Pago A but this is an elimination game with the latter sure to show up to give their younger squad a voracious support. Such backing usually encourages a team to play their best, such as punching above their weight, and Pago B will be hoping for such luck.Lion Heart is emerging as a force in the men’s 2010 FFAS National League as well as a cup favorite.The same can be said for Pago Youth as they have very talented young players who will for sure take up the Pago A mantle in the next few years, but first they need experience that can only be gained from a game such as the one they are about to undertake (8:30 a.m.).Pago B won a first-round bye after a drawing of lots before the tournament’s kickoff.GREEN BAY vs. PANSAGreen Bay is in a rebuilding stage after losing much of its players to fellow Faga’alu club Kiwi Soccers, thus are not looked upon as one of the tournament’s strongest teams. But they got this far by beating Tafuna Jets B 7-2 and have a chance at making it as far as the semi-finals.Their opponent is of the old guard, a once dominant team in American Samoa that is now a shadow if its’ old self. Gone are their glory days when they were considered the best in the territory as’ their squad has nowhere near the talent it used to boast.They are still a tough team and on a very good day can beat the best as evidenced by their 2-1 upset of Black Roses during a 2009 FFAS National League match and have some of the best young talent around such as Ismael D’Angelo Herrera, So’oga Fasia and Nissan Penitusi. They are the favorites going against Green Bay (10:30 a.m.).To reach this stage of the tournament they held off Tafuna Jets A 2-1 and now are on the verge of securing a semi-final spot.KIWI SOCCERS vs. VAILOATAI YOUTHThis is a battle (12:30 p.m.) between new club members and would have been a game between No. 1s had Kiwi Soccers not fallen off of the top of the standings in Pool A. Vailoatai is currently the best team in Pool B and is considered a favorite in both the National League and President’s Cup tournament.Kiwi started off great with three straight wins in the National League plus a 3-2 President’s Cup victory over Utulei Youth before losing two straight. They will be looking to rebound and now is the time to do so in order to advance to the semi-finals of the cup tournament.Vailoatai Youth, on the other hand, is on a high coming off of their biggest win of the season in the National League, a 15-1 decision against Tafuna Jets B. To get to this stage they beat Fagasa Youth 4-1 and have on their squad one of the best finishers in Ryan Petaia.Vailoatai is favored in this contest.

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About FFAS

A territory with just 70,000 people and an area of 199km², American Samoa is traditionally strong in sports such as gridiron, basketball and baseball but football is starting to take over these popular pastimes. The strength of the game is at the youth level where Football Federation American Samoa (FFAS) has worked hard to establish competitions within schools. Under the tutelage of President Iuli Alex Godinet.